Owning a home comes with a lot of responsibilities. It's not just unclogging the drain and mowing the lawn; there are plenty of unforeseen situations, just waiting to happen.
As shown by the subreddit 'Well, That Sucks,' the ceiling might decide to collapse, or a pack of uninvited sea lions might crash at your property for a surprise visit.
Hopefully, the sense of pride that you get from investing in your own place is strong within these folks!
This post may include affiliate links.
Guess Someone's Gonna Be Late For Work
My Cat Brought A Live Mouse In And Lost It In My Room. Again
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University recently published its latest quarterly Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) report, predicting a 5.9% decrease in home renovation spending through the second quarter of 2024.
This report, which offers a "short-term outlook of national home improvement and repairs spending to owner-occupied homes," claims that home improvement spending is predicted to drop by $29 billion from Q2 of 2023 to the end of 2024.
Sunlight Through This Glass Doorknob Started A Housefire
The Only Path Back To My Room Blocked By Cute But Incredibly Angry Sea Lions
My Car Broke Down This Morning On My Way To Work And Had To Be Towed. Not 5 Minutes After I Got Home, My Ceiling Collapsed
A previous iteration of this report, from January 2023, predicted a much steeper decline in spending, going from 16.3% at the end of 2022 down to just 2.6% by the end of 2023.
While the predicted drop of 5.9% for the first half of 2024 is much less shocking, it does emphasize the fact that, for another year, home improvement spending is expected to remain on a downward spiral.
After A Grueling Day At Work Without Food Where I Had To Wait 4 Hours For A Sample To Arrive Which Got Canceled, I Come Home At 7pm To Find All My S**t In Garbage Bags Cause The Cleaners My Landlord Sent Cleared The Wrong Apartment
My Tomatoes Look Like A Felled At-At
Blizzard Blew The Man Door On My Garage Open Yesterday
Drove My 17 Year Old Son To Visit My Childhood Home
This may indicate shifting priorities, but it's nearly impossible to talk about the drastic changes in home improvement spending over the last few years without reflecting on the Covid-19 pandemic and its influence on that specific market.
While there’s no denying that the pandemic had a devastating impact on the economy and life as a whole, it resulted in a drastic boom for all things home improvement.
While the U.S. economy shrank by 3.5% in 2020, spending on home improvements and repairs grew by more than 3%, to nearly $420 billion, as people modified living spaces for work, school, and leisure.
Delivery Driver Hung Food Order On My Fence And My Dog Ate It Every Single Bite
This Is Why You Don’t Put Up Solar Panels If You Live By A Golf Course
Hmmm, yes, but it is the responsibility of the gold course to ensure that people aren't launching golf-ball-shaped-missiles at people's houses. The golf club should be paying to replacement of those panels, and also erecting netting to prevent this. If the netting can't be erected, they should be reconfiguring the layout of the course to ensure this does not happen again.
Left My Bathroom Window Open For 3 Weeks Whilst I Was Away And A Bird Laid A Nest In My Sink
Stepped On A Ketchup Packet
The abrupt lifestyle and work changes that the pandemic brought on, coupled with the home equity growth, made it possible for many homeowners to delve into projects they would have otherwise skipped in other circumstances due to lack of time or funds.
However, as infection rates decreased and many people were able to leave their homes and return regularly to public spaces, home improvement spending rates dropped.
I'm Never Going To Recover Financially From This
Washing Machine In The Apartment Above Me Was Pouring Water For Days, And No One Noticed Until It Started Pouring Out Of My Circuit Breaker
I've had this happen but it was the toilet from above apartment and it smelled really bad!!
My 6 Year Old Swung On The Gate Once
Installed A Lovely Sunlight In My New Bathroom, Without Realizing It Would Perfectly Frame That Horrid Tower
Deane Biermeier, resident Forbes Home expert and general contractor, says that "homeowners spent a great deal in the past couple of years on home renovations. The wave didn't have much of a chance of lasting very long. It's not surprising ... that the combination of higher borrowing costs and economic uncertainty will continue to have a negative effect on the renovation market."
"I don't see home improvement spending increasing any time soon. My hope is that home renovation spending will level off and stop falling by the end of 2024," Biermeier adds.
I Met The Guy Putting A New Roof On My Apartment Today
(Oc) Meet Bonnie, Our 3 Month Old Collie. During The Night She Discovered A Can Of Blue Paint With A Loose Lid. We Call This Her 'Blue Period' Since She Is Obviously Going Through Some Artistic Phase. (The Chinese Rug Cost Nearly $6,000.)
Dog Decided To Bust Through My Bedroom Door Like The Kool-Aid Man While I Was At Work
This Is My View From The Bathroom Floor, Looking At The Hole In The Ceiling I Just Fell Through
However, Derek Walczak, Forbes Home Advisory Board member and owner and general contractor at Walczak Design + Build, says not to get your hopes up about lower pricing or more flexible workers' schedules just yet.
If you do find contractors that offer these seemingly too-good-to-be-true features, he advises to approach them with caution. "Pricing is a product of cost to operate, materials and, of course, cost to do the build. I don’t see any of those factors decreasing."
Someone Drove A U-Haul Into My Bedroom
Do You Want To See What God Did To Me Today
Was Lying In Bed When I Heard A Pop And Shattering Glass....
Overnight Coworker Sent Me This Last Night
"As a design and build collaborative, we do not mark up our services based on a booked pipeline or availability," Walczak explains. "With that being said, there might be contractors out there that are in need of work and [are] willing to lower their [prices]."
Walczak notes you shoul bde wary in these instances, “I would caution homeowners to ask what is being excluded from the scope and what steps may be skipped to make up for the decrease in price."
I Have 30 Seconds To Sweep This Up Before The Cat Pees On It
Real First World Problems
Magic The Gathering cards dropped on the stairs. A huge (and very impressive!) collection.
Went Under The Porch To Get The Decorations Today, Turns Out Wasps Have Been Squatting…
After Ripping Out My Front Door, I Learn There Are Different Sizes For Doors
Seriously, didn't think to measure first. If they can't even figure that out to start, they probably should hire someone else to finish the job SMH
So what does this mean for current homeowners? Is now a good time to renovate or purchase a home?
Although the housing market is uncertain, if you do decide to renovate, Walczak recommends keeping high-impact, high-ROI home improvement projects at the top of the priority list, while also considering how long you plan on staying in your current home to further inform you on what projects are worth it and achievable.
Walczak says that a good starting place could be remodeling kitchens and bathrooms because both typically add value and improve your daily experience within your home.
If you do decide to renovate, keep the long-term in mind, specifically if you are thinking about moving in the (near) future. “In the next five to 10 years, the neighborhood could completely change, so as long as you’re smart about any renovation and the construction is well thought out and designed, then you should make your money back and have better everyday quality of life for your family," Walczak says.
1:30 Am And I Hear A Loud Bang Downstairs
100 Year Old Family Cabin Burned To The Ground First Day Of Vacation
Just Came Back From My Vacations And Found This Growing Into The Ceiling...
Well That Sucks...... My House Got Hit By Lightning Yesterday
Opened This Door While Helping A Relative Today
Who Left The Water Running?
These Homeowners Were Out Of Town When Their Pool Service Technician Left The Water Running. As A Result, The Pool Overflowed And Contributed To The Failure Of This Deck
Stepmoms Mothers House Was Looted, They Took Everything, Even The Lights
Dropped My Ravioli Taking It Out The Microwave At Work
Just Fell In My Shower
Upstairs Neighbor Out Of Town For 3+ Weeks With An Overflowing Sink & Now Our Bathroom And Bedroom Walls & Ceiling Are Soaked Through
My Microwave Lunch Jumped Up And Flipped
Girlfriend Broke Up With Me So Thought I'd Make A Cheesecake To Cheer Myself Up
It Turns Out My New Roomba Is Perfectly Tall Enough To Absolutely Obliterate Itself On The Bottom Of My Swivel Chair
Wednesday, The Stairs To Get To My And Three Other Apartments Collapsed
2 Weeks Later And The Dust Is Still Everywhere, Had A Lithium Battery Explode While Charging, Fire Extinguisher Dust Was And Still Is Everywhere
Annoying but at least OP had an extinguisher to hand; the alternative is much more frightening
Vacuumed Disposable Cutlery Under My Kids Bed
Do You Think My Lunch Is Done?
Grandparents House Caught Fire While They Were Away For Thanksgiving
Well.. Dish Soap Is Not Meant For The Dishwasher I Guess
My Cutting Board Delivered With A Small Defect
New Couch Has Cushion Velcro On The Wrong Side...
And that's how 'cushion velcro' wound up in my Amazon cart. THANK YOU!
Neighbor Across From Me’s Trash Cans. I Don’t Know What Happened To Them, My Dad Says They Weren’t Like This When He Left For Work In The Morning
Someone likely shoveled ash from a fireplace or wood stove without making sure it had fully cooled.
Moving, Exhausted, Checked Into The Hotel Room And Omg Wtf
Not Quite How I Wanted My Morning To Start
Trying To Clean Your Oven
I Was Emptying Out The Dishwasher And As I Picked Up A Glass It Exploded In My Hands Anyone Know How I Can Prevent This From Happening Again?
My guess is it wasn't a dishwasher safe glass or one that's been heated up and cooled off too quickly one too many times
Bucket Of Paint Fell From Attic, Wiping Out Dresser, Carpet And Walls
My 15-Year-Old Son Decided To Move His Sister's Jeep Behind The Garage To Make Room For Another Vehicle, But He “Forgot” It Had No Brakes. So, This Happened To My Fence
Neighbors Insurance Doesn’t Want To Pay For Damages Due To It Being Cause By Nature…
Essential Oil Destroyed My Brand New Kitchen Island. How Can I Fix This?
My Tempered Glass Mixing Bowl Exploded Today. Now I'm Wondering If I Should Toss The Rest Of The Set
Found This Behind My Wardrobe Yesterday... I'm Extremely Allergic To Mold...
I Finally Got My Roommate To Move Out But This Is What He Left Me After He “Cleaned”
My Friend’s House Had A Really Nice View Up Until A Couple Of Months Ago
I Just Got Back To My Apartment After Winter Break And Found My Bathroom Trashed
Some of these things are not like the others... "My roof caved in!" "Upstairs flood soaked my ceiling and walls!" "Oh yeah, well I spilled a small amount of cat litter!"
One thing I thought that homes in the US seem to be built really cheap. Looks like just one level above cardboard. Is that typical?
Pretty much. Especially the new apartments that are built for investors. My town is full of them...
Load More Replies...Some of these things are not like the others... "My roof caved in!" "Upstairs flood soaked my ceiling and walls!" "Oh yeah, well I spilled a small amount of cat litter!"
One thing I thought that homes in the US seem to be built really cheap. Looks like just one level above cardboard. Is that typical?
Pretty much. Especially the new apartments that are built for investors. My town is full of them...
Load More Replies...